THE KING`S NEW CLOTHES

When I was a student and for many years after it was possible to become a chartered accountant or lawyer without having graduated with a degree.  State Registered Nurses at that time probably had the highest respect rating of all professionals.  They also managed to achieve their status through hard work on hospital wards combined with six week block attendance for lectures and other forms of academic training. When those three activities (and others) became available only with a university degree who is to say that the quality of their work was superior to those of earlier years?  Since the mantra of "school leavers must go to uni to have worthwhile job prospects"  became required repetition for politicians and commentators of all shades any voice in opposition was considered to be that of a living dinosaur.  The inevitable result of this supposed enlargement of the academic pyramid base has been the devaluing of all levels of educational qualification from GCE via GCSE to first class honours degrees and the division of professionals into various grades with eg nursing auxiliaries undertaking the tasks so called qualified nursing graduates consider beneath them. Graduate teachers now have "assistants" actually teaching and political uproar is heard when suggestions that some expert but non graduate people are perfectly capable of teaching in the public school environment.   The list whilst not endless is considerable. If the College of Policing has its way any aspiring police constable will require a university degree.  I won`t insult readers by repeating the already well rehearsed arguments against this proposal.  So many so called improvements to the quality of our society are driven by "the king has no clothes on; he`s in the altogether........".  Only yesterday Tracy Crouch, Sports Minister was forced to apologise for any offence caused by her comments re poor people and their contracts for Sky T.V.  Where in the public sphere  are little boys of Hans Christian Andersen`s imagination to tell it like it is?